A new island suddenly appeared in the Pacific Ocean: what happened there

A whole new island has suddenly appeared in the Pacific Ocean, a few kilometers from the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. This happened as a result of an underwater volcanic eruption that began on October 21.

According to The New York Times, scientists have been monitoring underwater activity in the region for months. But it was the most recent eruption that finally raised a piece of new land from the ocean abyss (To see photos and video, scroll to the bottom of the story).

"Now that it's visible, people are paying attention," said Yuji Usui, senior analyst for volcanic activity at the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Such fascinating geological processes responsible for the formation of islands in the Pacific Ocean are a reminder that our Earth is in a process of constant transformation, and its surface hides a whole range of known and unknown activity.

"The eruptions that shaped Hawaii took place before our time. But also, until they came to the surface of the water, we would not have seen them even if we were sitting above them in a Polynesian canoe," said James White, a professor of geology at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that the supervolcano in the south of Italy could have destroyed Neanderthals and now it is probably preparing to explode again.

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